Open end slidable jaw-face wrench



Nov. 3, 1959 D. AKERS 2,910,902

OPEN END SLIDABLE JAW- FACE WRENCH Filed Feb. 10, 1958 FIG. 3 FIG. 4

FIG. 5

INVENTOR.

' r DAVlD AKERS United States Patent 2,910,902 OPEN END SLIDABLEJAW-FACE WRENCH David Akers, Baltimore, Md., assignor to Columbiafrolucts, Inc., Baltimore, Md., a corporation of Mary- ApplicationFebruary 10, 1958, Serial No. 714,203

2 Claims. (Cl. 81-179) because of their ready engagement with a bolthead or nut and the ease with which they can be engaged as aforesaid insuch cases where only limited space is available for positioning thewrench upon the nut or bolt head. Such Wrenches, however, requiresuflicient space to afford an arc of movement of the wrench handlethrough approximately 180" or more in order to obtain any appreciablespeed of operation. The box type ratchet wrench, however, even thoughlimited in application because of space requirements for engagement witha nut or bolt head, provides for greater speed of operation wherelimited space is available to swing the wrench handle.

A ratchet type open ended wrench would therefore provide an idealcombination of'ready engagement with a nut or bolt head regardless ofspace limitation and speed of operation regardless of the limitations ofarc of rota tion of the wrench handle. In the present invention theseobjectives are readily obtained at a minimum of expense by a simplemodification of a conventional 'design of open end wrench.

One object of the invention is to convert an open end wrench ofconventional design into a ratchet type wrench with a minimum ofmachining effort.

Another object of the invention is to provide such conventional open endwrench with a spring loaded reciprocating member which provides rotationof a nut when turned in one direction and deflects inwardly of thewrench head for rotation thereof relative to the nut as the wrenchhandle is turned in the opposite direction.

A further object of the invention is to provide such a reciprocatingmember which may be mounted in the conventional wrench head by drillinga single opening.

Referring now to the drawings,

Fig. 1 shows in an enlarged plan view a wrench of the invention, havinga portion of one of the wrench jaws broken away to show details ofconstruction;

Fig. 2 shows a similar view of only the wrench head with thereciprocating member inwardly displaced to permit the wrench head torotate relative to the nut engaged thereby;

Fig. 3 shows a partial section taken on lines III--III of the Wrench ofFig. 1;

Fig. 4 shows the reciprocating member; and

Fig. 5 shows a simplified retainer for the reciprocating member of Fig.4.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the conventional open endedwrench comprises a handle portion 1 having at one end a head portioncomprised of spaced jaws 2 and 3, at the opposite end of the handleportion is a box type jaw 4. The spaced jaws 2 and 3 of suchconventional wrench have nut engaging parallel faces 5 and 6. On therear of the wrench head portion is drilled a suitable circular opening 7whose axis is preferably parallel to the face 6 of jaw 3 and spacedslightly 2,910,902 Patented Nov. 3, 1959 away from face 6 so that theperiphery of opening 7 extends slightly inwardly of the face 6 and alsooutwardly thereof towards the face 5. The inner ends of jaw faces 5 and6 are connected by an arcuate surface 8. The opening 7 extends throughsurface 8 between said jaw faces and inwardly of face 6 to provide ashoulder 9.

Within the opening 7 is disposed the reciprocating member 10 whichcomprises a cylindrical base portion 11 and an outwardly extendingportion 12 of reduced thickness. The portion 12 has a flat face 13disposed against face 6 of jaw 3 and an opposite flattened face 14. Theface 14 for a portion of its length is parallel to jaw faces 5 and 6,and terminates at its outer end in a smooth curve 15 tapering betweenthe faces 13 and 14 of the reciprocating member 10. The remainingdiametrically opposite faces of portion 12 form a continuation of thefaces of the base 11 as at 16. Within the base 11 is a suitable opening7 for reception of one end of a helical spring 17. The opposite end ofspring 17 projects from the base 11 and engages a short cylindricalscrew 18 closing the outer face of opening 7. The length and strength ofspring 17 is such that it will positively displace the member 10outwardly until the shoulder 9a thereof engages the shoulder 9 of thewrench head jaw 3, as shown in Fig. 3,but is readily compressible whenpressure is applied to the curved tapering surface 15 of the member 10.

The construction and application of the reciprocating member 10 to thewrench head provides for rigidity of the member 10 inextended positionand substantially excludes dirt from the opening 7 with long life to thespring 17. By maintaining but a few thousandths clearance between thediameter of opening 7 and the diameter of cylindrical portion 11 of themember 10, this member moves freely into and out of extended position.The flat face 12 of member 10 is parallel to jaw face 6 and has fullbearing thereon when under compression from a tightening nut. Thearcuate faces 16 of member 10 provide full cylindrical bearing on theinner periphery of opening 7 preventing lateral displacement of member10 when disposed inwardly of opening 7. Hence the probabilities ofgetting moisture and dirt into the spring 17 are very remote. Thethickness of portion 12 of member 10 is such to provide ample clearancebetween jaw face 5 and face 14 of member 10 to readily engage the nut ofa size across the flats thereof for which the wrench is intended. In theinner portion of face 14 of member 10 which is parallel with wrench face5 grips the nut when the wrench is rotated in the direction of the arrowA of Fig. 1 preventing accidental inward displacement of member 10. Thearcuate surface 8 between the wrench jaw faces 5 and 6 provides for freerotation of the wrench relative to the nut, when the wrench is swung inthe direction of arrow B of Fig. 2. During this latter movement, thenormal clearance between jaw face 5 and face 14 of member 10 combineswith the tapering curved surface 12 of member 10 to deflect member 10inwardly of the jaw 3. The cylindrical surface engagement of member 10with the periphery of opening 7 prevents lateral displacement or cockingof the member 10 in opening 7 which would interfere with the intendedready reciprocal movement of member 10.

From the foregoing it will be readily apparent that a conventional openended wrench can be readily and economically converted into a ratchettype wrench. Thus a conventional open ended wrench of say size can bereadily converted to a ratchet size wrench, merely by boring the opening7 in one jaw thereof and inserting the member 10. The outer end ofopening 7 would of course need to be tapped to receive screw 18. The member 10 can be readily formed from round bar stock at low cost. Thehelical coil spring 17 of suitable size can be readily purchased. Bycounter boring the base 11 of member a longer and more sensitive spring17 can be used.

It will also be obvious from the foregoing description that theinvention is equally adaptable to an open end wrench having fixed jawsas to one in which one of the jaws is adjustable.

Having thus described the invention in the present best contemplatedform, it will be understood that some detail modifications may beapparent to those skilled in the art, which can be made withoutdeparting from the invention disclosed. It is to be understood thereforethat such detail disclosure has been made by way of illustration and notlimitation except as made necessary by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An open end wrench comprising a handle having a head at one end,spaced rigid jaws extending outwardly from said head, said jaws havingconfronting parallel fiat faces adapted for reception and engagementwith the flat faces of a nut disposed therebetween, an arcuate surfaceconnecting the inner ends of said jaw faces forming the front face ofsaid head, a circular opening extending through said head from the backface thereof and through said front face adjacent one of said jaw faces,the axis of said opening being parallel to the associated jaw face andoutwardly thereof so that portion of the periphery of said opening liesinwardly of said associated jaw face forming therewith a shoulder, agenerally cylindrical slidable member insertable in said opening fromthe back of said head and having a cylindrical base portion disposed'within said opening and aflattened end portion projecting therefrombetween said jaw faces, one face of said flattened end portion beingparallel with and riding upon the adjacent jaw face in forming with thebase portion a shoulder engaging the shoulder of the said jaw face forretaining the slidable member within said opening, the opposite face ofsaid flattened end portion having an inner portion substantiallyparallel with the opposite jaw face and an outer portion curvingsmoothly from said inner portion to the adjacent jaw face, said slidablememher base being counter-bored to receive a coil compression spring, acompression spring within said counter bore and projecting below thesame to adjacent the back face of the wrench head, and a screw-threadedmember closing the said circular opening at the back face of the wrenchhead, said screw-threaded member when in position applying an initialcompressive force on said spring.

2. In an open end wrench having a handle and a head at one end of thehandle, the combination of spaced rigid jaws extending outwardly fromthe front face of the wrench head, opposing fiat inner faces on saidjaws being adapted to receive a nut between them, said head having acircular opening extending from the back face thereof between said jawsin overlapping relation to one said jaw so as to partially block saidopening, a slidable member of general cylindrical form having acylindrical base portion disposed within the opening in overlappingrelation to the adjacent jaw and a flattened end portion projecting fromthe head opening between said jaws, said flattened end portion having aflat face parallel to and slidably engaging the adjacent jaw face and adiametrically opposite face disposed inwardly from the periphery of thebase, the lower portion of said latter face being parallel with theopposite jaw face for engagement with the flat face of a nut and theupper portion of said face tapering smoothly to the adjacent oppositeflattened face of the slidable member, a closure for said circular headopening and a compression spring extending between said slidable memberand closure member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS879,155 Ellis Feb. 18, 1908 1,308,440 Morrison July 1, 1919 1,898,388Parker Feb. 21, 1933 2,592,781 Yavner Apr. 15, 1952 2,646,711 YavnerJuly 28, 1953 2,721,493 Bergland Oct. 25, 1955 2,795,160 Blasdell June11, 1957

